Ice is at the center of Vladimir Sorokin's epic Ice Trilogy, which is also published by NYRB Classics.
Moscow has been...
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Dec 16, 2009
Lori
rated it: 
The dust jacket calls this book "a gritty dispatch," "a gnostic fairy tale," "a hard-boiled parable," "a New Age parody, "a bitingly funny fantasy" and "an important novel."
I suppose it's possible it's all of those things. Or any. And I Just Did Not Get It.
It was weird as all get out, yet I keep reading, thinking the whacking-people-with-ice-hammers-to-find-their-heart-voice-or-kill-them was somehow going to start ma More...
I suppose it's possible it's all of those things. Or any. And I Just Did Not Get It.
It was weird as all get out, yet I keep reading, thinking the whacking-people-with-ice-hammers-to-find-their-heart-voice-or-kill-them was somehow going to start ma More...
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Jun 19, 2011
Rafal
rated it: 
Lubię być zaskakiwany, i Sorokin sprawił mi "Lodem" sporą niespodziankę. Dodam, że w gruncie rzeczy pozytywną. Cała środkowa część opowieści, po prostu pochłania i urzeka klimatem, zwłaszcza po - trzeba to powiedzieć - raczej brutalnym, ociekającym wulgarnością i stylistycznie dość prymitywnym, początku. Na szczęście, po połączeniu wszystkich elementów, całość robi niemałe wrażenie, jest spójna i zaostrza apetyt na więcej (a "Lód" jest początkiem trylogii...).
Podsum More...
Podsum More...
Aug 15, 2009
Lisa
rated it:
The only reason I gave "Ice" two stars is that I finished the book... "Ice" chronicles the activity of certain blue-eyed, blond-haired people who search for others that look like themselves. When they find them, they bang on their chests with icy hammers. Some hammerees respond by speaking their “true” names through their hearts; they are rehabilitated. The rest, the “empties,” are left to die.
There are many layers to the book that I won’t detail, lest you, too, g More...
There are many layers to the book that I won’t detail, lest you, too, g More...
Feb 07, 2011
Julie
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Dec 25, 2009
Tim
rated it:
Such a weird book...at times, it read like a grim, bizarre Haruki Murakami-penned graphic novel (meaning: pretty awesome), and at other it read/felt like a crazy (not in a good way), cultish metaphor that I in no way had the culture understanding to parse. An interesting premise (poweful global network smashing people in the chest with hammers...bizarre intentions enabled through vicious means) wrapped in sometime poor translation, (probably purposeful) disjointed vignettes, and general weird/
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May 21, 2011
Jonathan
rated it:
An odd satire that depicts new-agey, material self-fulfillment as a fascist project run by fruit and grain eating Aryans who kill thousands of people looking for those whose hearts "speak" and who view those whose don't as disposable "meat machines." Despite being in translation, there are some major flaws here, most notably the heavy reliance on dream sequences and an unnecessarily repetitious plot.
Nov 08, 2009
Ben
rated it: 
The translation could be better, but it still gives readers a good sense of Sorokin's style and dominant themes. A bit of an odd choice to release in English, as it's the first of a trilogy. Still, it stands well on its own, as the story traces the journey of a bizarre cult of 20,000 chosen ones, out to find their brothers by beating people with ice hammers...
Jun 17, 2011
Christine
rated it:
This book was really strange. Part II went on a little long for me, but otherwise, it left me extremely interested and quite a bit confused. I was never entirely sure what the author was trying to tell me, but at the same time, I thought about the book A LOT and that made me give it four stars. Worth reading if just to say WTF after you've finished.
May 15, 2009
Peter
rated it:
Russian Writers have a history of using Science Fiction and Mystery to tell allegorical tales of a society deeply troubled. This is a good mordern example, one that vividly leaves the reader mulling and scrounging for reference points and deeper meaning. It is a good read, a stimulating intellectual adventure.
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Nov 28, 2010
Morgan
rated it: 
An almost complete waste of time. Though everything but predictable and with a certain appeal in the sequence of the four parts; the story lacked everything from a plot to in depth charachters. I would strongly advise against reading it.
Dec 17, 2009
Namrirru
rated it:
The story is interesting. The reader can choose his own conclusion whether it's just a crazy cult that victimizes its members into subservience or sci-fi parable about the monotony and anesthetization of globalized culture - that you have to be beaten nearly to death to know what it truly means to be alive? Any which way, it's interesting.
What doesn't work: The meteor. Sorry. Such a massive meteor would have vaporized at impact and would have completely desolated the area within hun More...
What doesn't work: The meteor. Sorry. Such a massive meteor would have vaporized at impact and would have completely desolated the area within hun More...
Jan 01, 2008
Ren
rated it:
love is more than sex, but it's still just as much of a mystery as this book.
quick summation: secret sect goes around hitting meteoric ice against the chests of the living dead. living dead awaken and start speaking the language of the heart. all humans are meat machines except this select 23,000.
the story itself is alright, but russian authors are near and dear to my heart. this is sorokin's second book in english translation. would definitely be interested in hunting down
quick summation: secret sect goes around hitting meteoric ice against the chests of the living dead. living dead awaken and start speaking the language of the heart. all humans are meat machines except this select 23,000.
the story itself is alright, but russian authors are near and dear to my heart. this is sorokin's second book in english translation. would definitely be interested in hunting down
Dec 30, 2009
Toby
rated it:
Some kind of strange Russian neo-creationist tale of ice-axe wielding fruitarians made of sunlight trying to find each other...
I kept reading only because I thought it was going somewhere...and it was, but 'somewhere' turned out to be 'nowhere'.
The author and the book seem to have been well regarded by some, so I reserve the right to have simply missed the point. But I tell you this, if there was a point, it was well hidden from my puny intellect!
I kept reading only because I thought it was going somewhere...and it was, but 'somewhere' turned out to be 'nowhere'.
The author and the book seem to have been well regarded by some, so I reserve the right to have simply missed the point. But I tell you this, if there was a point, it was well hidden from my puny intellect!
Feb 08, 2009
Elise
rated it:
A creepy look into the cruelty of post-totalitarian Russia. Written in a sparse style that gets more and more disturbing the more you read. Replete with physical torture and glimpses of a heaven forbidden to 99.9% of all people.
But the intriguing if disturbing quirk of the plot, almost genius in a way, is ultimately flat and disappointing. This book needed the tension of a protagonist.
But the intriguing if disturbing quirk of the plot, almost genius in a way, is ultimately flat and disappointing. This book needed the tension of a protagonist.
Mar 16, 2007
Mark
rated it:
Yeah, it's perversely inventive and gleefully dystopic, but, like: “Lapin headed for the entrance. He entered. Went up to the second floor. Walked through the empty smoking room. Walked through the open door of the men’s toilet.” I hope he had a little more energy when he wrote the book about the clones of Stalin and Khrushchev getting it on.
Jul 12, 2010
Kata
rated it:
This book doesn't deserve a star. I read it out of two reasons. One, because my mother insisted that I should. Two, my old high school friend brought it on stage. so I read it, and I did not get this contemporary fairy tale. Part I kept my interest, but Part II and the rest, lost my patience.
Mar 25, 2009
Alex
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This is either the enfant terrible's big sellout to the mainstream or the emergence of an elder statesman of Russian literature. I vouch for the latter.
Feb 09, 2008
Max
rated it:
I wouldn't say I didn't like it but I was pretty disappointed considering the great review it got in NYRB. I realized halfway through it that it was published by NYRB.
I saw three articles last week in NYT about some author that wrote a novel about Las Vegas. It seemed pretty excessive until I saw that they published his book.
I saw three articles last week in NYT about some author that wrote a novel about Las Vegas. It seemed pretty excessive until I saw that they published his book.
Apr 11, 2009
John
rated it: 
Evil, touching, confusing. Stylistically brilliant, but allowing for no easy interpretation. Like being imbedded in a doomsday cult.
Jun 29, 2008
Seth
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the last two sections of this book (which are only about a quarter of the book's contents, thank god), are boring and an incredible letdown. but it doesn't matter. this utterly bizarre tale of a cultish following searching for the light of creation in people is original and immersing.
Nov 10, 2007
Thaddeus
rated it:
Ugh. This started so so and just plummeted halfway through. Am I missing something? Was this better in the original? With so many great titles in the series, how the heck did this get in?
Mar 16, 2008
Andrew
rated it:
A weird, scattered story about ice, or cultists, or the way people turn from the world in search of something else, or all the above.
Mar 04, 2009
Anna
rated it:
I read it, cause I got interested. But it wasn't what I expected. Just a story about blue-eyed blonds with icy hammers.
Apr 28, 2008
Stephanie
rated it:
utterly bizarre, I liked the middle section the best--showing how much I don't like experimental fiction.
Dec 17, 2009
Lynn
rated it:
I found the writing style difficult to continuously read and stopped less than 1/2 way through.
